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Chapter Nine
Calai
I never realized food could be so fulfilling. With every bite of rich, savory, saucy goodness that slides past my lips, the happier I feel. It’s nourishing more than just my body.
It isn't until my belly is blessedly full that I start to think maybe they're trying to trick me into a sense of safety. Was this all a bribe? Do they think that by introducing me to such amazing food, that I'll suddenly want to be friends?
I wipe my face off with a napkin and carefully put my cutlery down, suddenly uncomfortable.
I need to get out of here. Since Eln got hurt, it seems as if it’s one thing after another, confusing me and making me feel paranoid. Too many thoughts and revelations and new things compounding until I feel like I might explode from the pressure.
I don’t know who these men are, and though I might feel some attraction to them, I also feel terrified. The things they’ve been speaking about, the way they’re establishing ownership of me without even asking me what I want, is making me ready to bolt.
I’ve been trying to be this docile little lamb all day, taking in all these new things they’re showing me, which in and of itself is overwhelming, but who’s to say these men are my best option?
When we were shopping earlier, the lady helping me slipped me a piece of paper with numbers scrawled on it and seemed to sense that something was off about my relationship with the three alphas. She was very clever giving it to me so they wouldn’t see, and I managed to slide it inside my clothing to hide it.
I don’t know exactly what kind of help she’s offering, but surely it’s better than ending up in a self-proclaimed isolated home. Once they get me there, how would I ever get out? This seems like my best chance here, surrounded by so many people. Without my old dress I fit in better, and we’re so close to the store that I might be able to run over there and hide in the bathroom or something or look for that woman.
Every time they touch me, I become more infuriated. To find out my whole life I’ve been told nothing but lies is almost secondary to not having any command over my own person. They can bristle and insist I’m theirs all they want, but until they’ve earned it and I’ve agreed, their words mean less than nothing. They’re simply the ones that got a hold of me first.
I’m not so dumb as to try and run without putting food in my stomach, so I accept the strange food that is, unfortunately delicious, at what they’re calling a ‘restaurant’, enjoying the play of spicy, rich flavors and new textures after cautiously accepting it won't taint my soul to do so. I could definitely get used to life outside the compound if these tacos were involved.
I watch them as we all eat, trying to gather any information I deem useful, but it’s difficult to concentrate with a big meaty hand clamped onto my thigh. Colter is tracing circles on it with his thumb, and I’m eyeing the knife on the table with envy. How satisfying would it be to simply remove the offending hand?
These men make me feel violent and unstable.
I feel as if I’ve never had anything real in my life; last week, I’d have said the realest thing I knew was the affection shared and reciprocated between Eln and myself, but apparently that was a façade as well. Would I ever find a truth to live?
My time is running out as they finish their meal, so I steady my breathing as I excuse myself to the restroom. I’m honestly surprised no one gets up to assist me there, but I suppose they chose the booth right next to it anyway.
Ducking inside, I take care of business as fast as I can, then decide to take perhaps the first risk I’ve ever taken. I trust someone with my safety.
There’s someone applying some sort of color to her lips in front of the mirror, wearing a shirt from the restaurant which indicates she’s under their employ, and I’m hoping that this won’t backfire when I approach her.
“I’m so sorry to bother you,” I whisper, eyeing the door like it might open any second and expose me, “and I hate to ask you to help me, but I’m desperate. You see, those men out there, they took me from my home, and I need to get away.”
She stills and looks at the door for a moment before she runs to it and carefully locks it. “I can’t do much, but there is a window over here I can help you get through. Do you have any money? Anywhere to go?”
“I…no. I’ve nothing but my determination. There was a woman across at the target store that gave me her number, told me to call her?”
“That’s a start.” She reaches into her pocket and grabs a handful of crinkled green paper. “Take this. It’s not much but it’s something.”
I look at the paper curiously, seeing different numbers in the corners of each one. Something to discover later.
“Come on. The quicker you get out, the better. If there’s someone over there you were speaking to, run over there and find her. Get somewhere safe, have them call the police. Are you…” she seems to inhale then, her eyes widening. “Fuck, you’re an omega. Hon, you shouldn’t even be out here. It’s dangerous for folks like you. You need to get yourself to the center.”
Tears well in my eye, because it’s so frustrating to be a fully grown adult with all these life experiences that don’t mean a damn thing out here in this world. I have no idea about anything she’s saying. I wish I had someone to just hold me and rub my back, someone like Eln, who would tell me what to do, and then help me to do it. But it looks like I’ve got to be my own hero right now if I don’t want to end up the victim of those alphas.
“Okay come on. Climb up and reach that latch there. There’s a closed dumpster on the other side of the wall you should be able to reach so you can climb down and run. As soon as you’re out, I’ll get my co-workers on board so we can try and keep your captors distracted as long as possible.”
“Thank you,” I tell her, “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“Yeah, well, you can thank me by getting safe.”
My hips complain as I try and squeeze through the narrow window, and I scrape my arm on something along the way, but when my palms land on the dirty metal platform next to a large garbage bin, I pull the rest of my body through quickly and I’m off in a sprint in the next breath.
There’s no time to decide if this is the right move because any options were taken from me long ago.
